Springfield College Students Create Biodiesel

Springfield College Students Create Biodiesel

The cost of gas continues to soar, but some Lincoln Land Community College students may know how to stop it.

"When these kids go to the gas pump and they spend four dollars for a gallon of gas, they don't have a clue where those four dollars go," said Lincoln Land Community College Instructor Kevin Tait.

Now these college students are learning about it first hand.

"With the cost of gas and the way our environment is headed renewable energy is really the only alternative we have right now," he said.

Tait is promoting the use of biodiesel. He says it's an eco-friendly alternative to the gas you put in your car every day.

"We rely on too much of things being imported, we got to get away from that you know, we got to start producing domestically," said Student Jeremy Vonlanken.

One way to do it is with vegetable cooking oil, the same stuff you use in the kitchen. Here's how the process works. You combine it with several other chemicals, put it through a processor, then a few minutes later, you've got biodiesel.

"It allows us to educate people on more renewable energies that are available, much more so than I think the general public is aware of," said Tait.

None of this would be possible without some help, though. Alderman Frank Edwards donated the biodiesel processor.

"It's gonna be the wave of the future, so no better way than to educate our students and get them acclimated to it and let them see the simplicity of it and move from there," he said.

You can make your own biodiesel fuel at home. Processors are available online.